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Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice: The Illustrated Edition is 4.99$ on Kindle.

Steven Erikson's Gardens of the Moon is 2.99$ on Kindle​​​​​​​.

I've been meaning to read some of the novels Robin Hobb wrote under the Megan Lindholm pen name for years and I finally gave Wizard of the Pigeons a shot.

Published in 1986, the book is considered one of the precursors of the urban fantasy subgenre and it's the first work that brought Lindholm wider attention in SFF circles. In the introduction for the 2020 edition, the author explains that stories are born when ideas collide. This book grew from the realization that some US army veterans went through catalyzing experiences that changed them in profound fashion. Add to that the fact that a score of years haven't been enough to erase those changes in any meaningful way, plus the knowledge that some of them have found ways to survive, just like pigeons or coyotes, in big cities that are not their natural habitat. More than three decades after it was released, the homeless problem has grown in every major city in the country and veterans of more recent wars and conflicts are still trying to make sense of what they were ordered to do and cope with the repercussions of what they did. Every time I read a book from the 70s, 80s, or 90s, I'm always wondering if that work has aged well. If anything, Wizard of the Pigeons may be more apropos now than it was back in 1986.

The main protagonist, Wizard, is a Vietnam vet turned homeless in the city of Seattle. In the aforementioned introduction, the author recounts that many young men she knew enlisted, or were drafted, and went off to war. Those who ultimately returned were often considered still "missing in action," or so the bleak joke went. They went away as kids and came back home as strangers. Due to the anti-war sentiment, these young men were not treated particularly well upon their return. The cycle for such boys was to turn eighteen, be drafted, get sent to war, and if you survived return home to disdain and blame. Some came back as alcoholics and/or drug addicts. Some bore terrible scars, suffered from loss of hearing, or returned with missing limbs. The various disorders associated with PTSD were not well-known at the time and more often than not society reacted with horror instead of helping these poor souls who didn't know how to process what they had gone through and how it changed them. This is the backdrop for the novel and it affects the plot in a myriad of ways.

It's a slow-burn type of novel that can be a difficult read at times that deals with homelessness, poverty, and mental illness. Definitely worth a read if you're a Robin Hobb fan!

The Book of Swords, an anthology edited by Gardner Dozois, is 1.99$ on Kindle.

Robert Jackon Benett's American Elsewhere is 1.99$ on Kindle.

Seth Grahame-Smith's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is 1.99$ on Kindle.

Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed is 1.99$ on Kindle.

Neal Stephenson's Seveneves is 1.99$ on Kindle.

Dan Simmons' Ilium is 1.99$ on Kindle​​​​​​​.

Jim C. Hines' Slayers of Old is 3.99$ on Kindle​​​​​​​.